Saturday, 3 November 2012

Again,Dangote Rated As Africa’s Richest Man

Chairman of Dangote cement, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has been rated on Bloomberg Markets’ inaugural list of the world’s richest people, as the 62nd richest man on earth with a total net worth of $13.5 billion, retaining his position as Africa’s richest man.The magazine made the publication in its December 2012 issue, adding that the 55 year-old Nigerian cement king who was also placed in March by Forbes as the 76th richest man, has made $3.5 billion so far in 2012, increasing his wealth by 34.5 percent.
A few other business moguls from African represented the continent on the index. Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris was listed on the 141th position with a net worth of $7.8 billion. South Africa’s diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer, glittered at the 147th position with a net worth of $7.6 billion, while luxury goods company chairman, Johann Rupert made the 187th position, sitting on a personal fortune of $6.2 billion.
According to Bloomberg Markets, the individuals mentioned on the list have a net worth of $2.7 trillion, the sum total of the GDP of the world’s biggest economy, France.
“The ranking shows who’s on top (America Movil SAB Chairman Emeritus Carlos Slim, with a net worth of $77.5 billion), who’s faltering (Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, who’s down $6.8 billion since Jan. 1) and who’s just wealthy enough to make our top 200 (SAS Institute Inc. co-founder John Sall, who’s worth $5.8 billion), read Bloomberg“Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, both in the top five, are household names. Yet nobody racked up billions faster than relatively unknown No. 3, Amancio Ortega of Spain. The 76-year-old founded Inditex SA, the world’s largest clothing retailer, which is known for its more than 1,600 trendy Zara stores. He made more than $18 billion from the start of the year through Oct. 5 – or about $66 million a day. That windfall was more than enough for the Spanish tycoon to eclipse Buffett – who’s now No. 4, with $48.4 billion as of Oct. 5.
“Ortega’s ascent coincides with an overall rise in retail stocks. Low cotton costs, cheap credit and demand for reasonably priced goods have driven shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Inditex to records. Nine of the world’s 25 wealthiest people are retail moguls. Among them are Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad, four members of the Walton family that controls Wal-Mart and Stefan Persson, the largest shareholder in Swedish clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz AB.
Dangote’s business achievements have continued to put his home country, Nigeria on the world map. He has been a major advocate and contributor to the increase of foreign investments in Africa’s second largest economy, and he is one of the largest employers of labour in the country. Recently, he made the final shortlist of the Forbes Africa Person of the Year Award and this new achievement increases his chances of clinching the prestigious award